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Read Lecture One on descriptive data and review the Employee Data . Be sure to familiarize yourself with the different variables shown on the Data tab. In this course, we will be using the Employee Data and statistical tools to answer a single research question: In our BUS308 company, are the males and females paid equally for equal work?

1. For assistance with these calculations, see the Recommended Resources for Week One. Measurement issues. Data, even numerically code variables, can be one of 4 levels – nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio. It is important to identify which level a variable is, as this impacts the kind of analysis we can do with the data. For example, descriptive statistics such as means can only be done on interval or ratio level data. Please list, under each label, the variables in our data set that belong in each group..

Although the initial post is due on Day 5, you are encouraged to start working on it early, as it is a three-part discussion that should be completed in sequential order.

Part One – Hypothesis Testing

Read Lecture Four. Lecture Four starts out with the five-step procedure for hypothesis testing. What is this? What does it do for us? Why do we need to follow these steps in making a judgement about the populations our samples came from? What are the “tricky” parts of developing appropriate hypotheses to test? What examples can you suggest where this process might be appropriate in your personal or professional lives? (This should be started on Day 1.)

Before starting this assignment, make sure the the assignment data from the Employee Salary Data Set file is copied over to this Assignment file. You can do this either by a copy and paste of all the columns or by opening the data file, right clicking on the Data tab, selecting Move or Copy, and copying the entire sheet to this file (Weekly Assignment Sheet or whatever you are calling your master assignment file).

Read Lecture Seven. The lectures from last week and Lecture Seven discuss issues around using a single test versus multiple uses of the same tests to answer questions about mean equality between groups. This suggests that we need to master—or at least understand—a number of statistical tests. Why can’t we just master a single statistical test—such as the t-test—and use it in situations calling for mean equality decisions? (This should be started on Day 1.)

During this week, we will look at ways of testing multiple (more than two) data samples at the same time.

We will continue to use the data and assignment file that we opened in Week 2, we just move on to the Week 3 tab.

The first question asks us to determine if the average compa-ratio is equal across 10K salary groups (20 – 29K. 30 – 39K, etc.). The second question asks us to identify which of the salary groups have different averages. The final question asks us to interpret the new information presented in the lecture and assignment; how does the new information we analyzed help us answer our equal pay for equal work question.

Read Lecture Ten. Lecture Ten introduces the idea that different variables may move together—sometimes due to causation and at other times due to an unknown influence. An example involves the perfect (+1.0) correlation between annual number of rum barrels imported into the New England region of the U.S. between the years 1790 and 1820 and the number of churches built each of those years (citation lost). Discuss this correlation: What does it tell us? Does rum drinking cause church building? Does church building cause rum drinking? Or what else could it tell us? If this correlation shows a cause and effect relationship, what drives what? If not, why does it exist? What could this correlation be used for? (This should be started on Day 1.)

This week we get to answer our equal pay for equal work question by looking at relationships between and among the different variables.

The first question this week looks at correlations and the creation of a correlation table for our variables. The second question asks for a regression equation showing how the different variables impact the compa-ratio measure. The third questions asks you to discuss the benefits of using a regression equation approach over the single variable tests we have been doing.

Read Lecture Thirteen. Lecture Thirteen introduces you to confidence intervals. What is a confidence interval, and why do some prefer them to single point estimates? Ask your manager what is preferred and why? What are the strengths and weaknesses of using confidence intervals in making decisions? (This should be started on Day 1.)

The final paper provides you with an opportunity to integrate and reflect on what you have learned during the class.The question to address is: “What have you learned about statistics?” In developing your responses, consider – at a minimum – and discuss the application of each of the course elements in analyzing and making decisions about data (counts and/or measurements).